BRIDLINGTON’S Mayor visited the Salvation Army this week to launch a year of fund-raising after choosing to support them.

Mayor Coun Michael Charlesworth met new Salvation Army captain Lynne Edwards at the citadel on Wellington Road to pledge his support after naming the Salvation Army his chosen charity for the year.

He also met local youngsters taking part in the Humberside Police Lifestyle challenge, who were helping out at the citadel.

Mayor Coun Charlesworth said: “I have always had a soft spot for the Sally Army and I’m glad that as mayor I can help to raise funds for them throughout the year.

“They are a remarkable charity that do so much to help those in Bridlington, whether young or old. All the money raised from town council events will go directly to the Bridlington Salvation Army which I thought was important.”

New Captain Lynne Edwards, who took over the position two weeks ago after moving to the area from Wallsend, welcomed the mayor’s support.

“We help anyone that walks through the door, young or old, homeless people, so to have help in fund-raising is vital; we are thrilled that the mayor has chosen us to support,” said Captain Edwards.

“I am delighted to be in Bridlington, so far I have found it a really lovely town and it is great to live by the seaside.”

Now Captain Edwards is hoping to get more people involved in the church.

“We have recently had repairs done to the citadel but it needs more work.

“We help the homeless, the elderly, in fact anybody that needs our help. If there is a gap, we can try and bridge it.

“We are very grateful to the mayor for choosing us as his charity and we want to make the most of it and show people what we can offer.”

During the mayor’s visit, three girls, who recently left Bay Primary School to head to Headlands in the new school year, were busy helping out with serving food and entertaining visitors to the citadel as part of their work in completing the Humberside Police Lifestyle Challenge.

The three 11-year-olds, Ellie Walkington, Priya Aujla and Claire Westmoreland, make up team ‘Hot Tigers’ –and Captain Edwards was impressed with the trio.

She said: “The girls have been wonderful, they have joined our volunteers, of which we have around ten, and helped serve food and with the table top sale.

“They have been so impressive that we have asked them to help us out after their week is over, and they said they would make us some gifts for our craft fair at Christmas. They’ve been very entertaining and brought a smile to the faces of all of those they have spoken to.”

The three girls said that they had “a lot of fun”, and they were also going to be doing a sponsored walk later in the summer.